Most companies that provide natural gas to consumers have a large number of gas meters located inside of residential properties. Access to these-meters is required to disconnect gas service for non-payment of a gas bill or to temporarily disconnect gas service in the event of an emergency or where required for repair of gas lines or equipment. Frequently, gas company personnel are denied access to meters inside of residential properties, particularly where residents are in arrears in payment of their gas bills.
One way to alleviate the problem of access to gas meters is to move the meters from inside a residence to outside. The disadvantage to this approach resides in the fact that it is very expensive to remove and thereafter reinstall a gas meter. Additionally, in order to remove a meter from inside of a residence, it is necessary to shut off gas flow to the inside meter. Typically, this requires cutting off the supply of natural gas to an entire street or to a number of residences on a street.
It is desirable to provide a device which may be operated by gas company personnel to disconnect gas service to a residence having an inside gas meter without requiring access to the inside meter. Preferably, the device would have the capability of interrupting gas service to a residence from a remote location for non-payment of gas bills or as dictated by an emergency or service situation. Additionally, it is desirable that the device operates independently of the gas meter and may be installed easily.